Popular St Albans vintage market is forced to cancel May event after council error
A couple looking at antiques in London. The St Albans Antique and Vintage Market was forced to cancel after a double booking. Picture: Supplied by St Albans Antique and Vintage Market - Credit: Archant
A popular specialist market has been forced to cancel after it was accidentally double booked with another event.
A view of the St Albans Antique and Vintage Market. Pictrue: Supplied by the St Albans Antique and Vintage Market - Credit: Archant
Since October last year, the St Albans Antique and Vintage Market has brought a variety of specialist traders to St Peter's Street each month.
Proving to be immediately popular, founder Jenny Titmuss booked and confirmed the 2019 dates in writing with St Albans district council (SADC) last year.
She printed the schedule on thousands of promotional leaflets, which have been distributed around the district.
Jenny was therefore shocked to see the St Albans Sustainability Festival Market Takeover advertised for one of her dates - May 19.
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Confirming the mix-up with SADC, Jenny was told she must cancel her event.
She said: "I have accepted it now because I have to, but when I saw it I thought, 'Oh my God, what am I going to do?'
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"I have printed thousands of leaflets and there will be a lot of disappointed people turning up to the sustainability market. I have told people on the website and Facebook but what else can I do? There are thousands of people that I can't possibility reach because I don't know who they are."
She was offered the chance to move the date, but Jenny refused to avoid "complicating it further".
Jenny said: "I do feel it reflects really badly on me, I don't want to badmouth the council but I have to say - it is the council's fault."
The Market Takeover is one of numerous events running as part of the St Albans Sustainability Festival 2019, between May 11 to June 1.
Chair of the Sustainability Festival Organising Group, Catherine Ross, said: "We were just so relieved when we heard that the Market Takeover could go still ahead, since over 80 local charities and businesses are involved, and it is the central event of the Sustainability Festival 2019."
She said they would have happily included vintage fashion stalls in the Market Takeover, but it didn't "prove possible".
Head of community services at SADC, Joe Tavernier, said: "We've apologised to the Vintage Market for the cancellation which was the result of human error. We discovered a Sustainability Festival event had been already been booked in for the same date and took action as soon as this was realised."
He said measures have been taken to avoid this happening again, adding that SADC is pleased the event will return in June.
